Resource Alert: Book Newsletters

Regular readers of this blog know that I love to identify outside the box resources for us to use to help patrons. And I especially like resources that are directed at the reader. 

Today I have a category that fits that bill-- Book Newsletters. Back in February, Book Riot had this list 20 book newsletters that had me contemplating the newsletter as a resource.

What I enjoy about this list is that the newsletters themselves are have a different focus, covering fiction, nonfiction, and various formats. And most importantly, there were many I had never heard of. Yes, some are from authors and a few are Book Riot newsletters, but many were eye opening in their creativity.

My favorite example-- Books on GIF. A book review newsletter told completely with GIFS. Talk about outside the box.

These newsletters can be used by you to get new ideas for a VERY wide range of readers, to make displays, and to think of new ways to reach different readers. But they can also be put on your website, on the page where have your resource to help readers already listed. Let them know what is out there and provide the links for them to sign up for themselves. You can even do a series of social media posts highlighting different newsletters.

Think outside the box, both in the resources you consult to help readers, but also in how you pass resources on to your patrons. Showing them a wide array of resources that they can use to help themselves is excellent RA Service. It shows them that you care about helping them. It also prioritizes the RA Relationship over the RA Transaction, which is at the heart of my brand of RA Service. 

We want to be the conduit for conversations around leisure reading in our communities. The number of books we actually match with readers is NOT important. Rather, what is most important is cultivating relationships around books and reading at the library. Providing your patrons with lists of book newsletters they may enjoy, especially when they come from somewhere other than the library, is excellent and thoughtful service to your readers. Whether you can directly connect it to a check out or not, you can definitely use it to connect patrons with your library and its services. 

Have a great weekend. 

Back Monday with the December LibraryReads list!